Multiple speed toy vehicle



1970 E. A. NIELSEN 3,546, 09

MULTIPLE SPEED TOY VEHICLE Filed Feb. 26, 1969 2 Shects-$heet 2 ML 7 FIG. 5.

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74123 54 flez v I; 6 K! 71a INVENTOR EDW/A/ A. lV/ELSE/V ATTORNEY5 Dec. 15, 1970 E. A. NIELSEN MULTIPLE SPEED TOY VEHICLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 26, 1969 FIG. 2.

United States Patent 3,546,809 MULTIPLE SPEED TOY VEHICLE Edwin A. Nielsen, Oceanside, N.Y., assignor to Ideal Toy Corporation, Hollis, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 26, 1969, Ser. No. 802,406 Int. Cl. A6311 17/00 US. Cl. 46206 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A multiple speed toy vehicle adapted to ride on a track is provided with a gear linkage including two alternate gear trains coupling a motor to a drive wheel so as to propel the vehicle at either of two different speeds. The vehicle is adapted to cooperate with two gear switching track sections, each for shifting the gear linkage from one state to the other.

This invention relates generally to childrens play toys and more specifically to a multiple speed toy vehicle adapted to ride upon a toy track.

Toy vehicle systems including a powered toy vehicle and a toy track adapted to guide the Vehicle along a prescribed course are well known in the prior art. To enhance the play value of such a toy vehicle-track combination, the present invention contemplates the use of speed shifting track sections and multiple speed toy vehicle adapted to shift speeds while passing over the speed shifting track sections.

The principal object of the present invention is thus to enhance the play value of a toy vehicle-track system; a further object is to provide a toy vehicle which is adapted to change speed as its passes over special track sections.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the gear linkage system coupling the motor to the drive gear includes first and second alternate gear trains including a common adjustable idler gear movable between first and second operative positions and effective in the first position to impart rotational motion to the drive gear through the first gear train and effective in the second position to impart rotational motion to the drive gear through the second gear train. The vehicle includes levers adapted to cooperate with the speed switching track sections for moving the common adjustable idler gear between its first and second positions as the vehicle passes over the track sections, the idler gear thereafter remaining in its new position.

The above brief description as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view, shown partly cut away, of the rear portion of a toy vehicle constructed in accordance with the present invention, illustrating the power linkage system in its first operative position, and further showing a first section of the speed changing track;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 in FIG. 1;

3,546,809 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 1 but shows the power linkage system in its second operative position after the vehicle has progressed further along the track;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 in FIG. 2 and shows the pivotal geear support arm in its lower position;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but shows the pivotal gear support arm in its upper position; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the switching tracks.

Referring to the drawing, there is generally shown a toy vehicle 10 adapted to move along a toy track under power of a relatively constant speed motor 14 and to change speed as it passes over a switching track assembly, including specially adapted track sections 18a and 18b. The vehicle comprises a toy car body 20 secured to a toy car underframe 22 having a relatively fiat bottom 22a and upturned lateral edges 22b. The underframe typically supports four wheels including rear drive wheels 12 and 16 and two forward wheels (not shown). Drive wheels 12 and 16 are rigidly secured to axle 24 which traverses the underframe 22 from side to side and is supported for rotation by holes in the upturned lateral edges 22b. The underframe also includes, at the rear thereof, a motor receiving cradle (best seen in FIG. 2) formed by mounting fixture 64 at one side of the underframe and electrical contact plate 66 at the other. Fixture 64 is secured to underframe 22 and includes a gear mounting late 64a and an upright post 64b. The motor receiving cradle is adapted to receive an electric motor 14 and to make approporiate electrical contact between the motor and a pair of batteries (not shown) located in the car body. Specifically, contact plate 66 forms one electrical contact and mounting fixture 64 forms the other with motor 14 being designed to snap-fit between the gear mounting plate 64a and the contact plate 66 to assure proper mechanical support and electrical contact.

To permit the vehicle 10 to change speed without changing the motor circuit, underframe 22 includes a multiple speed power linkage system for delivering power from motor 14 to a wheel drive gear 32 which is rigidly secured to and concentric with wheel 16. Since Wheels 12 and 16 are rigidly fastened to axle 24, rotation of gear 32 is effective to turn both rear wheels 12 and 16.

The multiple speed power linkage system includes first and second alternate gear trains having different stepdown ratios for driving gear 32 at different speeds. The first and second gear trains are alternately activated by a common idler gear assembly 36 which is mounted on pivotal gear support arm 82 by gear pin 86, permitting the idler gear assembly to rotate freely. Pivotal gear support arm 82 is adapted to pivot about pin 68 fastened to gear mounting plate 64a between first and second operative positions wherein the gears of idler gear assembly 36 alternately cooperate in the first and second gear trains to deliver power from motor 14 to the wheel drive gear 32. When idler gear assembly 36 is in the first operative position (shown in FIG. 1) it forms a part of the first gear train having a relatively low step-down ratio and serves to communicate power to the drive wheels 12 and 16 at a relatively high speed. When in the second operative position (shown in FIG. 3) the idler gear assembly forms a part of the second gear train having a relatively high stepdown ratio which imparts a low rotational speed to the drive gear 32.

Both alternate gear trains include, at a first end thereof, a common motor driven or output gear 26 rigidly secured to drive shaft 34 of motor 14 and forming part of the motor assembly adapted to be snap-fit into the receiving cradle. Both alternate gear trains also include, at the second end thereof, Wheel drive gear 32.

In the position shown in FIG. 1, motor driven gear 26 having a radius R engages gear 38 having a radius R of idler gear assembly 36, rotating the entire idler gear assembly about gear pin 86'. The outer gear 42 of the idler gear assembly 36 has a radius R and engages the wheel drive gear 32 which has a radius R In order to drive the car forward, gear 26- rotates clockwise in FIG. 1, turning, idler gear assembly 36 counter-clockwise and driving gear 32 clockwise. In accordance with Well-known theory, the step-down ratio of this first gear train can be stated as follows:

R26 R42 R38 X R32 FIG. 3 shows idler gear assembly 36 in its upper or second operative position. Although gear 38 is raised, drive gear 26 is again maintained in contact with it. The inner gear 4 having a radius R of idler gear assembly 36 en.- gages an intermediate gear 46 having a radius I1 mounted on gear mounting plate 64 by pin 44 which permits gear 46 to rotate freely. Gear 46 in turn engages a second intermediate gear 48 having a radius R and secured to gear support plate 64 by pin 52. Gear 50 has a radius R and is rigidly secured to gear 48, and is hence set in motion by the action of gear 46. Gear 50 in turn engages the drive gear 32. Gear 26 rotates clockwise in FIG. 3, turning idler gear assembly 36 counter-clockwise which turns gear 46 clockwise. Gear 46 turns gear 48 counter-clockwise and gear 50 turns gear '32 clockwise. The step-down ratio of the second gear train can be stated as follows:

E E; 7; El Cancelling in this expression, we determine the ratio of the vehicle speed when driven by the first gear train to the vehicle speed when driven by the second gear train to be In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, R =R and the ratio between speeds is established by the ratio of the radii of gears 48 and 50. For the gear configuration shown, this ratio is approximately 2:1 indicating that the vehicle will travel twice as fast when arm '82 is in its lower operative position (FIG. 1) than when it is in its higher operative position (FIG. 3).

To enhance the play value of car 10, the multiple speed power linkage system is adapted to cooperate with a speed shifting track assembly 18 comprising track sections 18a and 18b in FIG. 6 to change the cars speed as it rides over the track.

Specifically, pivotal gear support arm 82 and hence idler gear assembly 36 is shifted from one operative position to another, altering the gear train by which power is communicated from motor 14 to drive gear 32, as the vehicle passes over switching track assembly 18. To accomplish this shift, pivotal gear support arm 82 when in its first or lower position (shown in FIG. 1) rests against a second pivotal arm 54 which is pivoted about axle 24- and has an upper surface 54a and a lower surface 54hr which protrudes downward through a slot 56 in underframe 22. In this position pivotal arm 54 rests on the underframe 22 at the forward lip of slot 56 with pivotal gear support arm 82 resting on the upper surface 54a of the arm. When the car is running with arm 82 in the first operative position, gear 26 applies a torque to drive gear 38 which forces arm 82 against the stop provided by arm 54.

To shift the gear train, the gear switching track 1 8a includes an upward projecting ridge 58, shown forward of wheel 16 in FIG. 1, having an upwardly ramped leading edge 58a positioned to engage surface 54b of pivotal arm 54 as the vehicle rides over the switching track and adapted to drive arm 54 upward against pivotal gear support arm 82. Car 10 is maintained in a centered position on the track by depending pin 28 which rides in slot 30 of the track. The action of arm 54 against arm 82. raises arm 82 and hence common idler gear assembly 36 from its first operative position (FIG. 1) to its second operative position (FIG. 3). The motion of arm 82 and of idler gear assembly 36 between the first and second operative positions is in no way impeded by the interconnection of the various gears since the relative movement of mating gears between the engaged and disengaged positions occurs only in the plane of the mating gears. (In this sense, the plane of a gear is the region between the two parallel planes defined by the two faces of the gear.)

When arm 82 reaches its elevated or second operative position (FIG. 3) it becomes engaged by latching lever 60 including horizontal latching arm 60a in a manner to be described hereinafter and is thus retained in its second or latched position until released.

In FIG. 5, pivotal arm 82 is shown having been driven to its second or latched position by pivotal arm 54. Arm 54 is shown in dashed line in FIG. 3 in approximately its uppermost position as vehicle 10 passes over ridge 58. As will be seen in FIG. 3, arm 54 falls back to its lower position after it passes over the ridge.

Referring in detail to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 wherein the interaction of lever 60 and pivotal arm 82 is shown, it will be seen that lever 60 is mounted on the inside post 64b of mounting fixture 64, and is pivoted from pin 70. Th lever projects down through slot 72 in underframe 22. The lever pivots against a stop provided by axle 24 which passes through underframe 22 and is maintained in approximately vertical position when at rest. Gear mounting plate 64a includes an arcuate slot 74 which receives a first lateral projecting latching bar 82a extending inward from pivotal arm 82 at the forwardmost end thereof. Bar 82a is adapted to travel within arcuate cut-out 74 as arm 82 moves between its first and second operative positions. Bar 82a may comprise the forwardmost end of pivotal support arm 82 bent at a right angle with respect to the remainder of arm 82. Lever 60 also includes a lateral projecting latching bar 60a which extends at a right angle to lever 60 over the inside post 64b of mounting fixture 64 toward pivotal arm '82 and bar 8211. Bar 60a includes a slanted rear face Ma and a top surface 60:1

During the shift from position one (FIG. 1) to position two (FIG. 3), as arm 82 moves upward bar 82a travels upward in slot 74 engaging the slanted rear face 6011 of arm 60a and rotating lever 60 away from the vertical position. When bar 82a passes above surface 60a lever 60 falls back to its normal vertical position. With latching lever 60 in the vertical or rest position, the upper face 60a of bar 60a obstructs lateral projecting bar 82a (and hence arm 82), preventing it from falling back to its lower or first operative position (see FIG. 5 In this upper latched position (FIG. 5) the weight of pivotal arm 82 rests through lateral bar 82a on bar 60a driving latching lever 60 clockwise against axle 24.

To shift arm 82 from its latched or second position (FIGS. 3 and 5) to its first or lower position (FIGS. 1 and 4), track 18b is provided with two upward projecting trip pins 78a, 78b either of which is movable into position to engage the lower end of lever 60 as vehicle 10 moves forward over switching track assembly 18b. It is to be understood that two trip pins are employed so that track 1812 will function properly as vehicle 10 travels in either direction. The engagement of lever 60 with one or the other trip pin 78a and 78b drives lever 60 counter-clockwise (in FIGS. 4 and 5) until bar 60a no longer obstructs bar 82a (the position shown in FIG. 5). When bar 60a releases bar 82a, support arm 82 falls to its lower position as shown in FIG. 1 under the urging of gravity and the force of gear 26 on gear 38. By this action the first or high speed gear train (FIG. 1) becomes engaged moving the car ahead at the relative ly high speed.

Section 18b of switching track assembly 18 is designed so that either of trip pins 78a or 78b may be moved into or out of position in the path of lever 60. The switching track assembly can then be adjusted to return the drive system of car to its first speed position or not as the operator chooses. To this end, track 181) includes a lever 80 pivotally mounted beneath track 18b by pin 90 and supporting trip pins 78 in a position beneath a slot 88 in track 18b so that the pins project up through the slot. Lever 80 projects beyond the edge of track 18b and may thus be manually rotated between two positions (shown in dotted and dot-dashed lines in FIG. 6), moving pins 78 in or out of the path of lever 60. Thus if vehicle 10 approaches track 18b from the left in FIG. 6, lever 80 may be pivoted counter-clockwise by moving the projecting portion of lever 80 to the right in FIG. 6 putting pin 78a in the path of lever 60 as shown in dotted line in FIG. 2. If vehicle 10 were approaching from the right in FIG. 6, lever 80 would be moved to the left for pin 7 8b to engage lever 60.

It is to be understood that the distance between the first section 18a of switching track assembly 18 having ridge 58 and the second section 18b having pins 78a and 78b may be any selected distance and that a single track section having both a ridge 54 and movable pins 78a and 78b may be employed in place of the separate track sections 18a and 18b shown in FIG. 6. While sections 18a and 18b are shown in FIG. 6 in close proximity to one another, they may be separated by intermediate track sections as desired.

Referring now to a typical sequence of operation of the shifting arrangement, as the rear portion of vehicle 10 passes over ridge 58 on track 18a, pivotal arm 54 is driven upwards bearing against pivotal gear support arm 82 and driving arm 82 into its uppermost position as shown in FIG. 3. Since arms 82 and 54 both pivot in a vertical plane, the weight of vehicle 10 cooperates with projection 58 to raise these arms without urging the car in a lateral direction. As pivotal arm 82 travels upward, lateral bar 82a travels upward in arcuate slot 74 engaging bar 60a and displacing lever 60 slightly in a counter-clockwise direction (see FIGS. 4 and 5) until bar 82a passes above bar 60a. At this point lever 60 rotates slightly clockwise under its own weight and assumes a vertical position against axle 24, latching lateral bar 60a and hence pivotal arm 82 in its uppermost position. This position is the drive systems cocked position. FIG. 5 shows lever 60 in its vertical position with lateral bar 82a engaged above bar 60a and also shows (in dotted lines) lever 60 in its extreme position prior to its return to the vertical position. Whenever vehicle 10 rides over upward projecting ridge 58, the gear drive system is shifted into this second or cocked position activating the second gear train and driving the vehicle at a low speed.

To return the gear train to its first position one of trip pins 78a and 78b is moved into the path of lever 60 which projects downward through the bottom of underframe 22. Thus, as car 10 travels forward, the direction shown by the arrow in all figures, lever 60 engages the upward projecting pin 78a or 78b and is driven to its pivoted position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. Lateral bar 82a is thus no longer supported by arm 60a and pivotal arm 82 is free to fall to its lower position shown in FIG. 4. The vehicle thus resumes traveling at its high speed.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described above are merely examples of the application of the principles of the invention. Additional embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A multiple speed toy vehicle adapted to travel upon a track including at least one speed switching track section, said vehicle comprising a vehicle body, a plurality of wheels supporting said body for rolling movement, drive gear means for driving at least one of said wheels, a motor having an output gear, a gear linkage system coupling said motor output gear to said drive gear means, said gear linkage system having two alternate gear trains each including a plurality of gears wherein at least one of said plurality of gears is a common adjustable idler gear moveable between first and second operative positions in the plane of said idler gear and effective in said first operative position to impart rotational motion to said drive gear means through said first gear train and effective in said second operative position to impart rotational motion to said drive gear means through said second gear train, and means depending from said vehicle and responsive to engagement with said at least one speed switching track section for moving said common adjustable idler gear between said first and second operative positions as said vehicle passes over said switching track section.

2. A multiple. speed toy vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said common adjustable idler gear is urged toward said first operative position by said output gear and said depending means includes an arm projecting downward from said vehicle body and adapted to cooperate with an upstanding ridge on said switching track section to move said common adjustable idler gear to said second operative position, and further including latching means including a latching lever projecting downward from said vehicle and adapted to maintain said idler gear in said second operative position when moved thereto and to engage a trip pin on said speed switching track section to release said common adjustable idler gear from said second operative position.

3. A multiple speed toy vehicle in accordance with claim 2 wherein said at least one track section includes means for mounting said trip pin for movement between a first position in the path of said latching lever and a second position away from the path of said latching lever.

4. A multiple speed toy vehicle in accordance with claim 2 wherein said idler gear is mounted on a pivotal gear support arm having a latching bar extending transversely therefrom and wherein said lever includes a transversely extending latching arm, said latching arm and said latching bar being adapted to engage one another and to support said pivotal gear support arm in said second operative position and being further adapted to disengage and release said pivotal gear support arm when said lever strikes said trip pin.

5. A multiple speed toy vehicle adapted to travel on a toy track, said vehicle comprising a toy vehicle body, a toy vehicle underframe supported by wheels and supporting said body for rolling movement along said track, a motor mounted within said body for driving said vehicle along said track, a first gear train and a second gear train, said first and second gear trains alternately interconnecting said motor to at least one of said wheels, said first and second gear trains alternately including a common idler gear assembly movable toward and away from said track between first and second operative positions wherein said common idler gear is efiective in said first position to participate in said first gear train and in said second position to participate in said second gear train, and shifting means extending from said vehicle and cooperating with projecting means on a switching track assembly for shifting said idler gear alternately toward and away from said track between said first and second operative positions.

6. A multiple speed toy vehicle in accordance with claim 5 wherein said shifting means comprises a pivotal arm mounted for pivotal movement toward and away from said track, said arm protruding downwardly from said underframe and being adapted to engage a ridge on said switching track assembly, movement of said pivotal arm over said ridge and away from said track raising said common idler gear from said first operative position to said second operative position, and a latching lever retaining said idler gear in said second operative position and extending downwardly from said underframe to engage a trip pin on said switching track assembly, engagement of said lever with said trip pin relasing said common idler gear for movement toward said track into said first operative position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner I. A. OLIFF, Assistant Examiner 

